Homily given by Bishop Anthony Randazzo
Bishop of Broken Bay
Feast of Saint John Vianney - Jubilee of Priests
4 August 2025
Today, as we gather in this Holy Year of Hope for the Jubilee of Priests, we do so in the radiant light of the feast of Saint John Mary Vianney, the humble Curé of Ars and the patron of all parish priests.
We thank God for the priesthood we have received, and we thank the Lord especially for the gift of this model of priestly life: a man of great humility and unwavering love, a man of sacrifice, of prayer, and of mercy. Saint John Vianney, canonized in 1925, one hundred years ago, has again been brought to our attention by Pope Leo XIV as a “model of priestly holiness and missionary zeal.” Saint John Vianney himself called the priesthood “the love of the Heart of Jesus.” That is not a poetic phrase alone, it is a summary of his entire life.
Today, more than ever, the Church needs priests who live their vocation not as functionaries, not as mere administrators, but as men whose hearts beat in unison with the Heart of Christ.
Men who carry, like Jesus in the Gospel today, the burdens of the people, who are “harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt 9:36). And what does Jesus do in response? He calls. He entrusts. He sends. He sends you. You, my dear brothers, have been entrusted with the mystery of shepherding God’s people, not just with words, but with your lives.
In Saint John Vianney, we see this fully lived out. He spent long hours in the confessional, up to 16 hours a day, because he believed with all his being that people could be healed, changed, revitalised and regenerated by God’s mercy. He wept for his people. He fasted for them. He stayed, even when things were hard, even when the soil was rocky. His whole life was an act of intercession between God and the world. His sacrifice bore fruit, not because he was powerful in the world’s eyes, but because he made himself available to Jesus Christ. He made room for grace to work.
The prophet Ezekiel reminds us: “If you warn the upright not to sin and they abstain from sinning, they shall live, thanks to your warning, and you too will have saved your life.” (Ez 3:21) What a stark but beautiful image of our ministry: standing at the crossroads of salvation history, not only pointing the way, but walking with others upon it. And it is not a solitary walk.
In this Jubilee of Priests, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that fraternity, genuine fraternity, is essential to priestly life. It is not optional. Formation must teach us not only how to serve God, but how to love one another as brother priests. This is more than human warmth; it is a deep spiritual necessity. For how can we build communities of love if we do not strive to live as a community of brothers ourselves? Fraternity among priests is a prophetic witness in an age of isolation. In our parishes, in our presbyteries, on our missions, we must recover the joy of fraternity. Not as competition. Not as comparison. But as communion. As a share in Christ’s priesthood together, each of us uniquely called, yet never called alone.
My dear brothers, your priesthood is not for you alone. The Church shares in it, rejoices in it, depends on it. The faithful share in your sacrifice, in your merit, in your mediation before God. You stand at the altar not merely for yourselves, but for all: calling down graces upon the whole Church, and most intimately upon those entrusted to your pastoral care.
Your lives, often hidden, sometimes misunderstood, are a living sermon, a daily Eucharist. And yet, I know it is not always easy. There are disappointments. There is fatigue. There are moments of loneliness, of doubt, of spiritual dryness.
Saint John Vianney knew these too. And still, he remained faithful. What sustained him? The answer is simple: Jesus. In the Blessed Sacrament, in his breviary, in his silence, in his love for the people of Ars. His life teaches us that closeness to Christ is the secret to perseverance. And that simplicity and authenticity are not barriers to evangelization and mission, but the very soul.
To every priest here, I say this: thank you.
Thank you for your yes. Thank you for your perseverance. Thank you for every Mass offered, every Confession heard, every dying person anointed, every child baptized, every word of comfort spoken. You may not always see the fruit, but you are planting seeds of hope.
Let us, then, entrust ourselves anew to Saint John Vianney. May he intercede for us, that we may be holy, joyful, merciful priests. May he inspire young hearts to say yes to Christ’s call. May he guard us in moments of trial and rekindle in us the fire of our first love. And may we never forget: the priesthood is not about us. It is about Him, and about the people He loves.
And if we love Jesus with all our hearts, we will find ourselves, as John Vianney did, loving God’s people with a love that never grows old.
Saint John Vianney, pray for us.
Holy Mary, Star of the Sea, intercede for us.
Jesus, Eternal High Priest, renew us in Your love. Amen.